MH17 exposes the real Ukraine and the woman who’s only fear is the bombs won’t kill her

Australia bolsters response to MH170:30

Australia has increased its number of officials on the way to the crash site of MH17. The team of 230, comprising 190 federal police and defence personnel, including medical specialists, are either in Ukraine or on the way.

July 26th 2014

2 years ago

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Valentina Kozlova’s world was already grey but now she will have to live in darkness as she has no money to repair all the windows of her home unit that were shattered when a mortar landed outside. Picture: Ella Pellegrini

Valentina laments she will have to live in darkness from here on as she has no money to make the repairs but says that is the least of her problems.

Her 31-year-old grandson Vlad was outside the apartment when the mortar landed outside.

“It was a normal day and everyone was doing their business then the bomb dropped,” she said yesterday.

“Vlad lives with me and he was outside and the shrapnel cut him down. He crawled back into the stairwell and up a few stairs before he managed to call his girlfriend on the mobile phone. He told her ‘find me here find me here I’m in the stairwell’ and she called an ambulance. There was so much blood. The doctors have worked on him but they still can’t stop the bleeding, a day after he was put in hospital and they cant stop the bleeding, and there’s shrapnel still in his knees.”

Valentina Kozlova’s grandson Vlad was hit by a shrapnel on the knee and dragged himself back to the flat’s stairwell. Picture: Ella PellegriniSource:News Corp Australia

Her head bows and she struggles to speak for a moment. The woman then makes a deep sigh and continues.

“Okay, they say he will probably now walk in a chair, I mean he will be in a chair and never walk again. That will be his life. Life was already hard but now I don’t know how we will live.”

Valentina has lived at Number 61 for 33 years but while she lives tough, with a pension after a lifetime as a teacher and a nurse totalling less than $100.

Valentina Kozlova despairs at the news her 31-year-old grandson may spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Picture: Ella PellegriniSource:News Corp Australia

She is afraid of more bombs but only because she knows they probably won’t kill her.

“I am not afraid of these bombs but I want to die in the moment in hits, I cant live as an invalid and I’m more afraid of this,” she said.

Valentina Kozlov’s only fear now is that the bombs will not kill her when they strike. Picture: Ella PellegriniSource:News Corp Australia

“This war is maybe business for some people. It was a normal nice life here but now everybody has moved out. Knock on all the doors here, everyone has left and taken their families. It’s quiet and very sad. Where can I go, I have nowhere to go? And Vlad …. I go to visit my husband’s grave outside Donetsk and I don’t know who today controls the cemetery, the (rebels) or the Ukraine military.

“I want peace yes and I support the (separatists) and I want the Ukraine Government that here in Donetsk no-one wants to be part of their country anymore. Everybody here wants to be their own people.

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